Automatic mine door



Sept 2 1924.

A.GQDLEY AUTOMATIC MINE DOOR Filed June 4, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. .2 1924. 1,507,056

A. GODLEY AUTOMATIC MINE DOOR Filed June .4 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @QiZ 7 Patented Sept. 2, 1924.

An'rirony GODLEY, or was]: rnanxrcar, ILLINOIS- I 1,501,056 'FFICEQ:

AUTOMATIC MINE DOOR. 4

Application filed June 4,

To all whomit army concern ;Be it known that I, AN'rHoNi' GonLEY,

'CJI

. Ely principal him a citizen of the United States, residing at Vest Frankfort, in the county of Franklin and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvelne ts inan Automatic Mine Door, of which he followingis a specification. v

TlllS invention relates to an improved mine door, and-has particular reference to a closure of this class which 'isautomatic inoperation.

is; to provide a closure of the above named class which is automatically! opened by acar when the latter ,approachesthe closure, the doors of the preaches the passed beyon closure beginning to open when the car reaches a predetermined distance or polnt onopposite sides thereof and being fully opened when the car :reaches the closure .to permit unobstructed passage of the car.

. One of my objects is to provide a structure of this class which is positive in operation, the doors being automatically opened by means controlled by the car as it apoors from either side, and being automatigxlly closed after the car has other side of the closure.

An important feature of the construction which I select in carryingout the invention is the rigidity of parts accomplished the practical arrangement, from construction and bracing thereof.

()ther features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed todesignate like parts throughout the same:'

Figure 1 represents a top plan view of a section of a mine car track showing my improved automatic door or closure in asso: ciation therewith. I

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the improved closure and its actuating-means. Figure 3 is an end elevation thereof. Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the closure frame is'desig nated generally by the reference character 1. The frame is of a size to permit free passa eof the cartherethrough' and is rectangu ar inoutline, suitable angle irons or the like 2 being placed in the corners there- .strips 7..

any suitable. point along; the track in the rmne and 1s, supported in the custbmary'for of 'the rail on one the operating means on the,

4 the doors when the car ends of the'bar mesh with these- 1924.- Serial N0.'717,757.

of to bracethe side bars. The closure is composed of apair of duplicatesheet -metal doors 3 integral with and extending inwardly from posts lprovided at the outer ends thereof. These posts are journal'edifor rotation in suitablebearings 5- secured-Ito the vertical side bars of the frame. Ifidesired, the bearings may simply. be inethe form of eye bolts as. shown in the drawing. Each ,door. 'is. rovided with vei' tically spaced horizonta bracing strips'fi and-:at the, centers are supplemental bracing In practice, the closure is at 1n any other appropriate manner. :Tl hegrai-ls R of the track pass. beneath the bottom edges, of the door, and disposed-alongside side and positioned. on opposite sides-of the closures are-supplemental car actuated rails 8. These-rails may be fifteen or twenty feet in lengtlrand* they are suitably pivoted and. anchored ;.at

their outer ends as indicated at 9.; :The

inner ends of the rails 8 tenninateadjace'nt and beneaththe closures and are activemn operating means for opening and ,closing approaches the -.door from either side. 'Although the operatingmeansQcould-be of some other construction, I prefer toenaploy a transversely disposed operating bar 10. which extends beyond the vertical sides 9 of the frame. As-seen more clearly in Figure .1, the intermediate portion of the oper ating bar is offset and the ends thereof are provided on sides opposite to each other with rack teeth 11. Pinions 12 are fixed to the lower depending ends of the aforesaid posts 4 and the rack teeth at the opposite It is obvious that with this arrangement, when the bar is 'moved crosswise of the track, the pinions are rotated and as soon as these are rigidly connected to the door posts, the latthe operating bars therebeneath. .It is evident thatby providing this rigid connection between the inner ends of the rails 8,

when these inner ends are swung-outwardly away from the rigid rail of the track, the aforesaid rack bar wil1 be moved and the doors opened. In order to return the parts Figure 3.

to their normal positions after the car has passed a predetermined point on the opposite side of the closure, I employ a comparatively strong coiled spring 14 which is attached at one-end to the rack bar and is anchored at its'opposite end to any suitable stationary p t. In the present'instance it is attached to the under side-of a platform orcover board 15 which extends over the operating parts of the device to protect them. If desired,'a suitably designed brace 16 may be disposed between the-door frame and an adjacent tie as seen more clearly in It is understood that in the flanges of the wheels of the car will pass between the supplemental pivoted rails 8 and the sta-- tionary rail. Hence, as thecar approaches the closure from either side, the -suppl e-. mental rails will be swung outwardly upon their. pivots and in so doing, the aforesaid rack bar will be actuatedv to operate the doors. The doors will open gradually, et

rapidly, and the spring will function at t is time to insure-smooth operation. Assuming ithatthe'car is traveling in a'direction from ---j'right to: left, it'is clear that ,before it approaches the closure, the doors will be fully" opened and they'will remain open until thecar-has passedbeneath the frame, at which timetheywil'hgraduafly close untilthe car has passed byoruil the pivot pointof the closing or slamming supplemental rail on the-left hand side of 4 ,be'understood that. minor changes coming within the scope of the subjoined claimmay be'resorted-to .ifdesired.

Having thus described'the invention, what In an automatic mine-door,'a supporting frame adapted for transverse disposition across a track, doors having posts at their outer ends pivotally mounted from said frame, inions rigidly fixed to the-lower endsof the door posts, ,a rack bar extendin between said posts, the rack teeth m ing with the teeth-of the respective pinions, a

return spring attached, atone end to the rack bar. and anchored at "its opposite end to a stationary part/of; the structure, a supplemental car actuated .rail adaptedfor dis-i position alongside of a main rail of the and anchored .ataits' outer end, and a rigid track, the supplemental-rail being pivoted connection between the'iliner free end of said railan'd-fsaid rack bar for imparting movement tothe latter'when the rail is swung uponfgiits'ipivot by the ear.

In whereof I aflix my -signature.

. "1 ANTHONY; GODLEY 

